Sick Daze
by EmAino
Summary: When Danny gets sick, his friends at the Montecito take it upon themselves to nurse him back to health.
1. Chapter One: Hard to Get Up In the Morni

Author's notes: Just a random idea that I had one day that I decided to go ahead and run with. Insert usual disclaimers about not owning the show nor the characters here. Should mention that I wrote this before seeing "Silver Star" and the Danny/Mary breakup...  
-  
Sick Daze

-  
Chapter One: Hard to Get Up in the Morning

-  
As the alarm clock's typical ear-piercing scream suddenly jolted him from his sleep, Danny McCoy groaned before reaching out to press the snooze button. The former Marine sleepily groped around the oak nightstand, and ended up accidentally knocking the black, plastic menace to the floor, finally shutting it up. A smile appeared on his face as a dark silence surrounded him again, but his hands reached down for the bedcovers the tall, brown-haired man had kicked off like usual. Shivering, he made a note to check before work and see if his air conditioner was functioning properly as it seemed colder than it should be in the bedroom. As he rolled onto his opposite side, something beckoned to Danny and told him that another few minutes of sleep wouldn't do him any harm whatsoever. It was a notion that McCoy quite agreed with.

He awoke seemingly a few moments later, and sat up against the headboard to prevent himself from falling asleep again. A slight chuckle escaped him and he rubbed the back of his brown-haired head (which was aching) as he recalled his dream. It had been a musical version of a normal day for him at the Montecito Resort and Casino, where he worked as a security guard. Shaking his head to clear the dream away, Danny shivered again and realized that his nap hadn't relieved a strange weariness that was radiating through his body. Not only that, but his elbows, back and knees all seemed to be killing him for some strange reason.

"Probably just a morning bug." McCoy remarked, shaking his head.

Swinging his legs over the side of the bed, McCoy paused immediately as his foot collided with the alarm clock he had knocked to the floor earlier. The tall man rubbed the side of his head with one hand, and casually picked the clock up with the other.

Once he caught sight of the time, Danny immediately did a double take. The crimson numbers now read the time of 9:15 AM, two hours after he was supposed to be at work! Hoping that he had just messed up the display when he had knocked the clock to the floor, Danny grabbed his watch that was lying nearby. Sure enough…

"Damn." McCoy exclaimed, sprinting to the nearby bathroom.

To be continued...(Short, I know).


	2. Chapter Two: Danny's Day Gets Worse

Chapter Two: Danny's Day Gets Worse

-  
Shoving his yellow and black Camaro into park, Danny leaned his head back against the headrest and let out a deep sigh. Driving into work had been more of a challenge than usual as the abnormal weariness Danny was still feeling had made his concentration level almost non-existent. He had lost count of how many times he had gotten honked at that morning, but the three near car-wrecks weren't so easily forgotten. That was coupled with the fact that McCoy knew that he still had hell coming in the form of his boss, Ed Deline. As one of his hands ran itself through his short, brown hair, the tall man closed his eyes tightly.

"Can it get any worse?" he quietly asked himself.

"So, this is how inmates look before they're executed!" a female voice commented, getting Danny to open his eyes immediately. He looked over to see a woman with dark, shoulder-length hair casually leaning up against the driver's side door of his car. Her dark eyes watching his every move with a look of sheer amusement.

"Not now, Sam." Danny begged, recognizing the Montecito's hostess and his ex-girlfriend, who must have had "torture Danny" permanently written on her things to do today list. "I'm really…"

"Screwed?" a grinning Sam finished, "Yep, that's the term I'd use to describe it." Her dark eyes suddenly narrowed in concern. "Are you feeling okay, Danny? You're looking a little pale, even for someone who's about to be torn a new one by Ed."

"Ah, I'm fine." Danny waved off as he got out of his car. "Just haven't been feeling totally like myself this morning."

"Lucky for you that Mary's not here." Sam grinned as the pair walked into the casino, which was just beginning to reach its peak hours. Sam was referring to Danny's best friend since childhood, Mary Connell, who was also the Montecito's Special Events Coordinator. Both knew that she would overreact upon hearing that Danny wasn't feeling 100 percent. "She's off at some conference or something." She looked up at the much taller man as they stopped at one of the many hidden doors that led to the innards of the casino. "Anyway, I've got to be going, but you will call me if you need a ride home or something, right?"

"Sure." Danny agreed, wanting nothing more to get away from the steady stream of flashing lights and noise emanating from the casino floor.

"By the way, play the sick card and Ed just might have sympathy on you." a waving Sam advised as she walked away.

-  
"Where in the hell have you been?" Ed Deline asked in a quiet, yet demanding voice as Danny pushed open the sliding glass door that separated the older man's private office from the surveillance room below. Slowly walking in, the ex-Marine was surprised to see that he wasn't the standing Deline's only guest that morning. An older woman with straight, blonde hair smiled at him from where she sat in front of Ed's desk. It was Jillian Deline, Ed's wife.

"I slept in." Danny meekly replied.

"Well, I hope it wasn't intentional." Ed remarked, "Because if it was, you picked the wrong day." The gray-haired man folded his still muscular arms across his chest. "Brunson is coming for a little visit."

"Brunson?" a surprised Danny repeated, knowing full well that Ed meant Charles Brunson, the owner of the Montecito. "Why in the hell is he coming here?"

Jillian replied that it was some sort of assessment, but Danny didn't hear exactly what the older woman said. A sudden feeling of nausea washed over him, diverting his attention. McCoy prayed that the contents of his stomach would stay down, but it seemed like it was going to be a losing battle. His eyes quickly scoured the office, looking for a garbage can or something, as he knew that the nearest bathroom was too far away.

"Are you feeling all right, Danny?" a concerned Jillian asked, noticing the younger man's odd behavior.

Just as he opened his mouth to respond, Danny quickly regretted that decision. Unable to stop himself, he threw up right then and there on the floor of Ed's office! While he was busy gagging physically, McCoy mentally cursed his luck. Why did he have to get sick on the one day Ed apparently needed him the most? As he finally finished a few moments later, he could feel a cool, yet gentle hand on his forehead.

"He's pretty warm." Jillian commented, taking her hand off of Danny's forehead.

"I'm fine." Danny assured as Ed's hand replaced that of his wife.

"The hell you are." a calm Ed remarked, removing his hand.

"You need me, Ed." Danny protested, knowing that Ed was thinking about sending him home. He shook his brown-haired head. "If Brunson's doing an inspection, I need to be here."

"No, you need to be at home in bed." Ed shook his head.

"But Ed…" Danny whined.

"Save your energy to fight whatever bug you picked up, kid!" Ed ordered, glaring at Danny. It seemed to silence the younger man. With a much more gentle look, the gray-haired man turned to his wife. "Why don't you take him back to his place?"

"I'd be more than happy to." Jillian replied, rubbing Danny's back. "Come on, Daniel."

"And send a janitor up here on your way out, will ya?" Ed added as Jillian and Danny headed out of his office. "I don't want to have to be seeing and smelling that all day!"

To be continued...


	3. Chapter Three: Going Home

Chapter Three: Going Home

-  
"Did you hear the news?" Mike Cannon asked, catching up to Sam and Nessa Holt as they walked through the busy casino floor. "Danny got sent home."

"What?" a surprised Nessa asked, turning her head to look at the bald, African American man beside her. "Why?"

"Puked right in Ed's office." a smiling Mike replied, looking back at the African American woman with straight hair. He shook his head. "Didn't even make it to the trashcan."

"I wondered about him." Sam commented, shaking her head. "He didn't look well when he came in this morning." The raven-haired woman paused as she remembered when she had last seen her co-worker. "And he came in late. Danny's never late!"

"I bet Ed's happy." Nessa remarked with a sarcastic smile. "All this happening on the day that Brunson's visiting."

"Me and Mr. D. have got that covered." Mike replied, "At least, say that we do if Danny calls and checks up on things." Still grinning, he shook his head. "Idiot didn't want to leave because of the inspection."

"Like Brunson wouldn't mark us down for having an employee throwing up every two minutes." Nessa chuckled. Suddenly, she looked at the two people walking beside her. "Has anyone called Mary and told her?"

"I just thought about it, but she didn't want to be bothered unless it was an emergency." Sam replied, shaking her head. "I'm pretty sure that Danny coming down with something doesn't qualify."

As Sam's cell-phone rang in her pocket, she waved a silent goodbye and walked over to the side of a nearby, vacant slot machine before pulling the phone out and holding it to her ear.

"Sam Marquez." she greeted cheerily.

"Please tell me that some sort of emergency has come up." the desperate yet quiet voice of Mary Connell commented on the other line. "I'll take just about anything at this point!"

"Your conference not going well?" Sam asked with a grin.

"I'm only bored out of my mind!" Mary replied as Sam chuckled.

"Well, you're in luck." Sam smiled, sitting down on the black leather stool behind her. "You've got two options for an excuse to high-tail it back here. Number one, Brunson's coming for some sort of inspection."

"If that's the case, I think that I'm better off here." Mary laughed, "What else is going on?"

-  
"Feeling any better?" Jillian asked, looking at the passenger seat as her silver sports car came to a red light. A depressed, silent Danny sat there with one arm hugging his stomach, and his forehead resting in his other hand. "Don't feel so bad, Danny. You're not invincible." The older, blonde-haired woman turned her gaze away and put her foot on the gas as the light changed colors. "We all get sick at one time or another."

"It's not that I got sick." Danny replied, looking up and dropping his hand. "It's that I got sick on the one day that Ed needs me the most."

"He's still got Mike and Mitch to help him out." Jillian pointed out.

"I know that, but…" Danny trailed off as he shook his brown-haired head. "I guess that I just don't like feeling like I'm a burden on people is all."

"Like I said, you're not invincible." Jillian comforted with a smile. "We all need help at one time or another." As the silver sports car neared Danny's house, the pair could see a muddy, white pickup already parked in the driveway. "Looks like you've got company."

"My dad." Danny nodded, recognizing the truck. His suspicions were confirmed when the older, brown-haired man walked out of the house upon seeing the car pull in.

"Ed called me from the Montecito." Larry explained, knowing that his son would ask what he was doing there. The elder McCoy also opened the car door for the younger. "Told me that you weren't feeling too good, buddy."

"It's nothing." Danny tried to wave off.

"It always is." Larry nodded with a knowing smile. "Good to see you, Jillian."

"Nice to see you too, Larry." Jillian smiled from the driver's seat. "How's business?"

"Good." Larry replied, "We just landed a pretty lucrative renovation job, so things are definitely looking up."

"Glad to hear that." Jillian replied before turning to Danny. "I've got to be getting out of here, but you get some rest, young man."

"I will." Danny promised.

" Eddie and I will probably both call to check up on you later." Jillian nodded before pulling the car out of the driveway. Larry waved to her as she drove off.

"You don't have to take care of me, Dad." Danny said as the McCoy men turned to go back inside the house. "I mean, I know that you should probably be at the site."

"Nah," a smiling Larry waved off, "I don't need to be there for another couple of hours." He patted Danny on the shoulder with one hand, and shut the front door with the other. "Besides, what kind of parent would I be if I just abandoned you when you were sick?"

"I'm not a little kid, Dad." Danny pointed out with a chuckle.

"No, but I know how you get when you're sick." a smiling Larry replied, "You never think that it's a big deal! You and your mother nearly fought World War 3 over the chicken pox. You would just not stay in bed…"

"And I must have been the only kid to try to run away to school." Danny grinned, remembering the incident quite well. "I made it as far as the school bus stop before Mary and Greg ratted me out." Chuckling, he shook his head. "I don't think that I'll ever forget the look on Mom's face when she found me, or the spanking she gave me afterwards."

"I made sure that you had clean pajamas, and put some fresh sheets on your bed." Larry replied gently, deciding to switch subjects. He knew that any further dwelling on his deceased mother wouldn't help Danny recover from whatever illness he had. The elder McCoy squeezed the younger man's shoulder. "Why don't you go on up and hop back into bed? I'll be up in a few minutes with some water."

"Thanks, Dad." Danny said appreciatively as he headed up the stairs to his room.

-  
"Where in God's name did you dig this thing up at?" Danny asked, looking at his father as he entered the bedroom. The tall, brown-haired man was sitting on the side of his bed and in his hand was a battered, old stuffed animal (a tiger wearing a safari outfit, complete with hat).

"This thing?" Larry laughed, setting the glass of water in his hand down on the nearby dresser. "Come on, Danny Boy! Don't tell me that you don't remember his name?"

"Fine." a slightly embarrassed Danny sighed, "Where in God's name did you dig Tugglesworth up at?" The ex-Marine set the stuffed animal down at his side. "I thought that he got tossed out ages ago."

"I couldn't do that." Larry shook his head. "He was one of your best friends when you were little. It would be like throwing Mary out." A strange twinkle appeared in the older man's eyes as he reminisced about his son's childhood. "You wouldn't go anywhere without Tugglesworth when you were younger. You even managed to sneak him into the room while you took a bath once."

"I don't remember that." Danny commented, shaking his own head.

"Well, you were only about 2 and half years old at the time." Larry recalled, sitting down next to Danny. "Your mother just happened to be passing by the bathroom, and heard you talking to someone. She opened the door a crack to investigate and there you two were. You were splashing around in the tub, and Tugglesworth was carefully sitting on top of the laundry hamper." He laughed slightly. "You apparently took every precaution not to get him wet, so your mother wouldn't have to wash him."

"Well, I didn't imagine that the dryer would be very comfortable." Danny assumed with a shrug.

"How does your stomach feel?" a concerned Larry asked.

"Still queasy." Danny sighed, putting a hand to his stomach. "But I don't think that I have anything more in there that can come up."

"You should wait on drinking the water until that feeling goes away." Larry advised, getting to his feet. A smile remained on the older, brown-haired man's face. "I think that I'm going to let you get some rest, kiddo. I'll be right downstairs if you need anything, so just holler."

"I will." Danny assured as he climbed into bed. "Hey Dad."

"Yeah?" Larry asked, pausing in the doorway.

"Thanks again." an appreciative Danny said.

"Sweet dreams, Danny Boy." Larry replied, turning off the light as he left the room.

"Okay, flu bug." Danny said to himself as his father shut the bedroom door. "Get ready for the fight of your life!"

To be continued...


	4. Chapter Four: That's What Friends Are Fo...

Chapter Four: That's What Friends Are For

-  
"Dad?" a half-asleep Danny asked as he heard footsteps across his wooden floor. The ex-Marine barely lifted his aching head off of the pillow.

"He left while you were asleep, Danny." a woman replied with a British accent. Turning on his other side, Danny could see an African American woman with dark, straight hair sitting at his bedside. "He didn't want to wake you as you looked so peaceful. How are you feeling?"

"How did you feel the last time you got sick?" Danny replied, pulling his blanket around him tighter.

"I see that it hasn't infected your attitude." Nessa remarked with a smile. Footsteps approached from down the hall before a smiling Mike appeared in the doorway.

"Remind me to put your bathroom back together before we leave." Mike said, holding a thermometer in his hands. A quizzical look appeared on the bald, black man's face. "This is an oral one, right? Because I don't want to have to be sticking this…"

"It's oral." Danny assured as Nessa grabbed the thermometer and placed it in Danny's mouth.

"Now, no talking until it beeps." Nessa instructed.

"He hasn't asked about the inspection, has he?" Mike asked in a voice that he mistakenly thought that Danny couldn't hear.

"No talking!" Nessa ordered as she noticed that Danny was about to open his mouth. Glaring, the African American woman with straight black hair turned to Mike. "Ed told us not to bring that up!"

Watching Nessa and Mike argue, Danny could feel worry rise within him. If Ed had told them not to mention the inspection, did that mean that it wasn't going too well? Or, did it just mean that he didn't want Danny to worry about things while he was sick? He knew that Mike and Nessa wouldn't give him a straight answer even if he asked them, so McCoy made up his mind to sneak back to the Montecito at the first moment he was given opportunity to. A beeping filled the air, and Nessa pulled the thermometer out of Danny's mouth.

"One hundred and two." Nessa announced, writing the temperature and time down on a nearby notepad. "Congratulations, Mr. McCoy! You've got yourself a nice, little fever to go along with your tummy ache."

"Great." Danny said sarcastically.

"Cheer up, Danny." Nessa encouraged with a sympathy look. "You'll probably be better by tomorrow."

"Brunson won't be inspecting the Montecito tomorrow." Danny replied, pulling his blanket around him tighter.

"I'll go check your thermostat, man." Mike volunteered, "Make sure that you're plenty warm in here."

"Thanks." an appreciative Danny said as Mike walked out of the room. The ex-Marine looked at Nessa. "How's the inspection going anyway?"

"Good." Nessa replied with a stern nod. "Not that I think you should be worrying about it so much." She gently sat on the side of the bed. "You need to concentrate on getting better, Danny."

"Jillian already told me that." Danny sighed as Mike strolled casually back into the room.

"It's the truth, man." Mike chuckled, stopping at the foot of the bed. "Me, Mitch and Mr. D. got you covered. Just like you'll have me covered when I take a day off sometime soon." A wide grin appeared on his face. "And don't think that I'm not planning on skipping out one day to make up for this. You owe me!"

"Deal." a smiling Danny agreed as more footsteps were heard coming up the steps. A blonde-haired woman appeared in the doorway, carrying a thermos and a brown paper sack.

"How's the patient?" the woman asked, looking at Danny.

"He's got a fever to match his stomachache." Nessa reported, standing up. She looked quizzically at the woman. "Ed let you come over?"

"With the message that you two need to get back to work." the blonde nodded, setting what was in her hands down on the nearby dresser.

"Guess we'd better go then." Nessa said, quickly glancing at Mike. Turning back to Danny, she rubbed the ex-Marine's arm. "Get some rest."

"I will." Danny promised, watching the pair leave.

"I'll run your car by later, man." Mike promised, pausing in the doorway for a brief moment.

"Thanks." an appreciative Danny said as Mike closed the bedroom door. The brown-haired man looked up at the blonde woman. "You know, the last time we were alone around a bed, it didn't end so well, Delinda."

"Was that a lame attempt at a pick-up line?" the only child of Ed Deline questioned.

"A casual observation." Danny shook his head.

"I hope Mary enjoys being married to such a big flirt." Delinda commented, caressing the man's cheek. Curiousity appeared in her eyes quickly. "Have you talked to her today?"

"She's at that conference, and I don't want to bug her." Danny replied, shaking his head again. He turned his attention to the items Delinda had brought with her. "What's that?"

"Your lunch if you feel up to it." Delinda replied, walking over to the dresser again. "Chicken noodle soup and dry toast, compliments of Gunther." A smile appeared on her face. "He started making it the minute he heard that you were sick. Think you can keep some down?"

"I'll try to." Danny nodded, suddenly realizing that food wasn't sounding so bad anymore.

"I'll go get a bowl and spoon for you." Delinda replied, heading towards the door. She paused to grab the glass of water Larry had left. "And a new glass of water."

"Thanks, Delinda." Danny said with a smile.

"Can I get anything for your little friend there while I'm at it?" Delinda smiled, pointing to Tugglesworth, who had fallen on the floor. A chuckle escaped the woman as Danny reached over and picked the stuffed animal up. He just thanked God that Mike had apparently not noticed it.

"Shut up." Danny replied as the still-giggling Delinda headed out of the room.

To be continued...


	5. Chapter Five: Not Exactly Tender, Loving...

Chapter Five: Not Exactly Tender Loving Care

-  
"Ow! Ow! Ow! OW!" Danny groaned as Delinda dabbed at his now damp mid-section with a towel.

"I'm so sorry." Delinda apologized profusely, "I should have made sure that I had a better grip on that soup bowl."

"Second-degree burns aren't helping the situation." Danny nodded, flinching.

"Don't be such a baby." Delinda rolled her eyes, "Thanks to the blankets, you probably only have first-degree if anything." She picked up a nearby TV tray and set it near a small, blue armchair in the corner of Danny's room. "Why don't you eat lunch over here, while I change those blankets for you? Still keep spares in the linen closet?"

"Yep." Danny replied, throwing the covers off of himself. He shivered violently as his bare feet touched the floor.

"Need any help walking?" a curious Delinda asked.

"I've just got a fever, Delinda. I'm not paralyzed. " Danny shook his head, making his way over to the chair. His aching joints gave him some more hell for moving. As he sat down and began eating, Delinda took his terry-cloth robe down from a hook on the wall and threw it over him. "This soup does taste better than it feels."

"I should hope so." Delinda smiled as she started changing the blankets on the bed. "Before you ask, when I left, the inspection was going rather well."

"I wasn't going to ask about the inspection." Danny commented between bites of toast.

"Liar." Delinda replied, glancing back. "You know, Daddy doesn't want you worrying about it."

"Yeah? Well, I'm sure that if Ed was in my shoes, he'd be worried about it too." Danny said as Delinda finished up. She walked over to the brown-haired man.

"Are you kidding?" Delinda giggled, "Mom would have to tie him to the bed."

"She might enjoy that." Danny pointed out with a grin.

"UGH!" Delinda shuddered, "Thanks, Danny!"

"It's what you get for dropping hot soup on me." Danny laughed, pushing his still half-full bowl away from him. "Anyway, I think that I've done all of the damage I can do here."

"I'll take this back down to your kitchen then." Delinda said, gathering the dishes. "You should probably try to get some more rest. Just let me know if you need anything."

"Okay." Danny agreed with a nod.  
-  
"Delinda?" Danny sleepily asked, sensing that someone else was in the bedroom with him. However, seeing as how he still felt sluggish, warm, and pained, his eyes remained happily closed, so he couldn't confirm his suspicions.

"Seeing as how she was just here," a gruff yet calm voice that definitely did not belong to Delinda answered, "I'm going to let that one slide." Danny's eyes snapped instantly open to see Ed Deline sitting at his bedside. "How are you feeling, kid?"

"Other than waking up to find you…" a joking Danny teased before his mind remembered about the inspection. The Ed Deline he knew would never leave the Montecito while it was being inspected! Curiosity appeared in his dark eyes. "What are you doing here though? What about the inspection?"

"Brunson wants to see how the Montecito runs without me." Ed casually replied as he studied the notepad where Nessa had written Danny's temperature and the time that she took it.

"Bet that's driving you crazy," a grinning Danny commented, knowing that Ed was most comfortable when he was in control of a situation.

Glaring at his protégé, the silent Ed's only reply was to roughly shove the thermometer in Danny's mouth.

"OW!" a wincing Danny exclaimed with the thermometer hanging out of his mouth. He raised a hand to his cheek. "I think you punctured something!"

"Shut up so the thermometer can do its thing!" Ed ordered, silencing Danny immediately. "Besides, idiot, if I had done that, you'd be bleeding."

Keeping silent, Danny simply looked at his feet and decided to remember this little incident, should Ed need him in a similar situation. As the thermometer went off, Ed pulled it out of Danny's mouth.

"A hundred and four?" Ed remarked, writing it down on the notepad. "Damn! It's only going up!"

"My temperature's not the only thing going up." Danny realized, feeling nauseous once more. Hugging his stomach, the tall, above-average looking man got up and ran for the nearby bathroom.

"Why in the hell am I the lucky one?" Ed wondered as the sound of Danny retching quickly followed the sound of the bathroom door closing.

To be continued...


	6. Chapter Six: Bad Bedside Manners

Chapter Six: Bad Bedside Manners

-  
"Feeling better, kid?" Ed asked five minutes later as Danny finally came walking back into the bedroom. Holding his stomach, the brown-haired man shook his head as he made his way back to the bed. "Let me go grab you a washcloth or something for your forehead."

"Thanks." Danny replied weakly as he climbed back into bed. "How's the inspection going?"

Silence.

"Ed?" Danny called, curious as to why his mentor wasn't answering.

Even more silence.

"Don't tell me that it's going that badly." a stunned Danny said as Ed came back into the room with a damp washcloth in hand. With what Danny deemed was an unnecessary roughness, the older man pressed it firmly onto the younger's forehead. "Ow!"

"Didn't anyone tell you that I don't want you worrying about it?" Ed inquired, looking down at McCoy. "You need to concentrate on getting better, Danny."

"It's just that I feel like I'm letting you down, Ed." Danny admitted.

"How?" a curious Ed inquired, "By staying home and taking care of yourself?" He shook his head. "That's not letting me down, man."

"Maybe Jillian was right." Danny sighed after thinking about things for a brief moment. He weakly shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe I do tend to think that I'm invincible and this is reminding me that I'm not."

"Well, if there's anything that I've learned in this life," a grinning Ed replied, readjusting the washcloth on Danny's forehead. "It's that Jillian is pretty much always right."

"She's got you trained." a noticing Danny chuckled as Ed's cell-phone went off.

"Deline." the gray-haired man greeted, immediately answering it. "Understood, Mr. Brunson. I'll be right there." As he hung up the phone, Ed's blue eyes turned back to Danny. "Brunson's about to take off, so I need to be getting back. You going to be okay by yourself?"

"Don't worry." a familiar voice commented as footsteps were heard stopping. "He's not going to be by himself."

"Oh, no." Danny whispered to himself, hoping that he had just imagined Sam Marquez's voice. However, that theory was thrown out the window upon seeing the dark-haired woman smiling at him from the doorway to his room.

"What's the matter with you?" Ed remarked, obviously hearing Danny. His blue eyes met the dark ones of his protégé. "That's no way to greet a lady."

"Maybe he's delirious and thinks that I'm Luis or something." a grinning Sam shrugged as she walked further into the room. Turning her gaze away from the bed, she looked at her boss. "Don't worry about us, Ed. Danny Boy is in my good and very capable hands."

"Hands very capable of smothering me." a teasing Danny remarked.

"Well, if you keep up that attitude…" Sam fired back, glaring at Danny.

"Enough!" Ed barked, getting both of his employees' attentions immediately. The gray-haired man briefly rubbed his forehead in weary frustration. "Geeze, I swear that Israel and Palestine get along better than the two of you! Even though it goes against my better judgment, I'm going to have to leave you two alone for the time being." His blue eyes turned to Danny. "You, be sure to get some rest."

"Right." Danny nodded in agreement.

"And you, try not to pick on him too much." a smiling Ed instructed, turning to look at Sam.

"Ed!" Danny exclaimed, wondering why the older man had apparently just given the brown haired woman permission to make him miserable.

"Will do." Sam promised, looking as innocent as ever.

"See you guys later." Ed said with one final sigh. He still questioned the wisdom of his actions, but found himself also questioning the wisdom of not seeing Brunson, his boss, off.

As Ed left the room, Danny and Sam waited to hear his footsteps go down the hall, down the stairs and out the front door, as well as the sounds of his red Hummer H2 starting up and driving away before either spoke again.

"Okay, he's gone." Sam announced, looking directly at Danny. "You can quit faking it now."

"You think I'm playing sick?" a stunned Danny realized.

"Yep." Sam nodded, sitting down next to Danny.

Saying nothing in response, McCoy simply rolled his eyes and thought about telling Marquez what she could go do with herself.

"I'm just playing with you." Sam laughed, gently massaging Danny's chest. A smile remained on the dark haired woman's face as she quit laughing. "I know that you know better than to play hooky when there's an inspection. I'm just surprised that Brunson hasn't ordered some sort of medical test to confirm that you really are sick."

"You and me both." Danny admitted with a nod.

"So, are you feeling better?" a curious Sam inquired.

"A bit." Danny replied with a smile.

"Good." Sam replied, "Because Mike told me that you were throwing up earlier and that's something that I just don't feel comfortable dealing with. So, if it happens…"

"Seeing as how I got rid of lunch just before you got here," Danny grinned, "I really don't think that I'm going to be throwing up anymore today." A chuckle escaped him. "Man, cut out for the medical field, you are not!"

"Oh, be quiet." Sam replied before her eyes caught a glimpse of something on the floor. Curiosity soon filled the dark spheres. "What's that?"

"What's what?" a puzzled Danny asked before Sam reached down and picked up the item in question: Tugglesworth! "Uh oh."

To be continued...


	7. Chapter Seven: With Friends Like This

Chapter Seven : With Friends Like This.  
-  
"You're almost thirty years old and you still sleep with a stuffed animal?" an amazed Sam asked, holding the old, stuffed tiger up by its tail. "Wow! I'm really not sure whether I should laugh or cry right now." 

"My guess is that you're leaning towards the former." Danny replied, trying to grab the stuffed animal out of the woman's hand. However, she was one step ahead of him and moved it quickly out of his reach. "Come on, Sam. Give it back."

"You know, maybe you should be seeing that therapist Ed set you up with." Sam chuckled, moving the toy every time Danny attempted to reach for it. "I mean, it's evident that you have some sort of strange need to share the bed with something, even if it is an inanimate object." The dark-haired woman finally let the ex-Marine grab the toy away. "Although, you could have just told us girls about this problem. I'm sure that we'd be a bit more therapeutic and less embarrassing than a stuffed kitty."

"You are so lucky that I don't have the energy to strangle you right about now." Danny replied, glaring at the woman. "If you must know, my Dad is the only reason Tugglesworth…"

"Tugglesworth?" Sam interrupted with a giggle. "It actually has a name? Just when I thought that this couldn't be any more pathetic!"

"Whatever." Danny rolled his eyes, "The point is that I don't have a problem!"

"Oh, yeah?" a grinning Sam asked as Danny noticed that he had unconsciously been protectively clutching the stuffed tiger to his chest. As Marquez let out a huge laugh, the brown-haired man let go immediately. "God! To find juicy blackmail material on you when I'm not even trying? It is a good day."

"You don't have any blackmail material because what you're assuming isn't true." Danny argued, rolling his eyes. He could swear that Ed told Sam to take it easy on him.

"People don't know that." Sam pointed out with a grin. The dark-haired woman was clearly enjoying where she had her co-worker right now. "Ah, to think how fast something like this could travel around the Montecito! Mike and Ed would never let you live it down."

"Clearly, you don't intend to." Danny sighed, rubbing his forehead wearily. Fortunately for him, he knew the only way (unless you were Ed Deline) to make sure that Samantha Jane Marquez stayed quiet about something. "How much?"

"Your holiday bonus sounds about right." an honest Sam replied.

"My holiday bonus?" an aghast Danny stammered.

"Yep." Sam confirmed with a nod.

"Forget it!" Danny exclaimed, turning his head away from the woman. There was no way in hell that he was going to pay Sam a thousand bucks to stay silent about this, especially when it wasn't true.

"Fine." Sam replied, getting up from her seat next to him. "You should probably get that rest Ed wanted you to get." As she walked to the bedroom door, a laugh escaped him. "However, don't be surprised at all the points, stares and laughs directed your way tomorrow."

"You heartless…" Danny started as the door closed behind Sam. Rubbing the back of his neck wearily, McCoy sighed and hoped that Marquez was just kidding about spreading that rumor about him. After all, there was a fifty percent chance that she was just playing with him, as well as the fifty percent chance that she was actually planning on doing it. Falling back against his pillow, he let out another sigh. "Sleep sounds really good at the moment."

-  
Something soft bouncing along his leg was the first sensation Danny woke up to. Not wanting to open his eyes, the brown-haired man just guessed that it was Sam bouncing Tugglesworth up and down his leg to annoy him. With a growl, he rolled hastily over onto his other side.

"Knock it off, Sam." he ordered, pulling his blankets around him.

The bouncing continued as if the person hadn't even heard Danny. Clearly, their only objective was to annoy him, which would fit Sam to a tee.

"Sam!" an enraged Danny started, sitting up in bed. However, Marquez was nowhere in sight! Instead, a very familiar red-haired woman was sitting on the bed, holding Tugglesworth in her hand. Upon seeing her, McCoy instantly relaxed, but questioned how. "Mary?"

To be continued...


	8. Chapter Eight: Karma

Author's note: Well, the end of another story! I just hope that everyone out there enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it and thanks for all of the reviews.

-  
Chapter Eight: Karma

-  
"Hey, sleepy head." Mary greeted with a smile.

"What are you doing here?" a confused Danny wondered, "What about your conference?"

"I came back the minute Sam told me that you were sick." Mary explained, gently rubbing his arm.

"She what?" Danny exclaimed before groaning in frustration. "You told everyone not to bother you unless it was an emergency!"

"I didn't mind." Mary assured, shaking her head. "The conference was really, really boring. So, I just did what you and Greg used to do all the time in junior high: I went to the bathroom and never came back."

"You mean, the trick you always used to scold us for?" Danny reminded with a teasing grin.

"Until today, I never did see the wisdom of it." Mary admitted, returning his smile. "How are you feeling?"

"A bit better." Danny nodded, realizing that he felt a bit stronger and not as achy as before.

"Well, let's get the official word." Mary said, picking up the nearby thermometer. "Open wide."

While they waited for the thermometer to take Danny's temperature, Mary looked at the old, safari suit-clad, stuffed tiger in her hands fondly. Danny could tell that, like himself, the red-haired woman was flashing back to the many hours of play the two had shared in their childhood, playing with that particular toy and a doll that had belonged to Mary.

"Whatever happened to his wife anyway?" Danny asked while the thermometer was still in his mouth.

"No talking." a stern Mary reminded, causing Danny to shrug apologetically. The red-haired woman thought about his question for a moment. "You know, I don't really know. I think Precious is in a box somewhere." A laugh escaped her. "Only in Vegas could a human princess and a world explorer tiger get married!"

"Yeah." Danny laughed in agreement as the thermometer went off. As Mary pulled it out and examine it, a smile appeared on her face.

"99 degrees." she announced, looking down at Danny. "I think that you're officially on the road to recovery."

"Thank God!" Danny sighed in relief.

"Delinda told me that she left some soup in the fridge for you." Mary said, getting up from her seat. "Want to see if you can keep some down?"

"I guess that I could try." Danny replied with a nod.

"Okay." Mary agreed, heading for the door. About halfway, she stopped and looked again at Danny with a puzzled expression. "By the way, what's this big secret you're hiding that Sam said that she'd share with me tomorrow?"

"Oh, my God." a horrified Danny whispered to himself, "She was serious!"

-  
"Glad to see that you're feeling better, man." Mike commented, catching up to Danny as he walked into the Montecito that next morning. The two men were a study in contrast; the bald, African American man had a carefree expression on his face while the ex-Marine had one of determination. "What's going on?"

"Have you seen or heard from Sam today?" Danny asked, knowing that if Mike even snickered, he would have his answer.

"You didn't hear." Mike realized, turning his head towards his friend. "She's avoiding the casino floor and anyplace besides her room as much as possible. She claims to have the migraine from hell."

"Seriously?" a surprised Danny said, stopping in his tracks.

"Yeah." Mike nodded, also pausing. "She's chalking it up to female problems and karma." He shrugged his shoulders. "Although, karma for what, I'm not sure."

"I am." Danny chuckled in response. "Cover for me while I go pay Ms. Marquez a visit?"

"Sure thing." Mike gladly agreed with a grin.  
-  
After hearing no response after knocking a few times, Danny finally used his master key to enter Sam's room at the Montecito. Unlike most of the staff, the brown-haired woman lived at the actual hotel since her job was pretty much twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. The room was dark as Danny entered and he could hear Sam groan softly from the bed.

"Sam?" he asked, walking over. "Are you awake?"

"Unfortunately." Sam replied, wincing as Danny turned on the bedside lamp. Taking the ice pack off of her forehead, the feisty woman glared at the ex-Marine. "Come to gloat?"

"Gloat?" Danny asked, a bit taken aback. "What are you talking about?"

"I spent the whole night, thinking of how much fun it was going to be to spread that rumor around about you." Sam explained, "And I wake up, feeling like someone's implanted a subwoofer in my head and is cranking the bass up."

"Can't help it if I've apparently got friends in high places." Danny shrugged, sitting down on the edge of the bed. "I just hope that you've learned your lesson."

"You wish." Sam remarked with a laugh. "This is only strengthening my resolve!"

"Then, I guess I've got no choice." Danny replied, feeling lucky that he had the brains to think of a backup plan. "What would you say to a truce?"

"A truce?" a puzzled Sam asked as Danny pulled a picture out of his pocket.

"I'm sure that you'll find this very familiar." Danny grinned, handing the picture over to her. It was of a stuffed, old, well-worn teddy bear sitting against Danny's sofa. Marquez recognized it immediately as the one she had had when she was little.

"How did you…" she asked, looking up at the ex-Marine.

"I have my ways." Danny smiled, taking the picture back. "Anyway, either keep quiet about finding Tugglesworth, or I'll just have to tell everyone that I'm not the only person here who has a strange need to share the bed with something."

While it wouldn't as unusual for a grown woman to still have a stuffed animal around the bed as it would a grown man, it would be quite unusual if it were a woman like Sam Marquez. A woman who had prided herself on being as tough as any of the guys, and one that didn't even have a shred of a heart. Sighing, she looked dejectedly into Danny's eyes.

"All right." she relented, "You win this battle."

"Thank you." Danny smiled, getting up from his seat. "I'll, uh, I'll bring your bear back after I get off work." With a grin, he headed for the door. "Hope you feel better."

"Thanks." Sam said appreciatively as Danny closed the door.

-  
"How did it go?" Mary asked, waiting for Danny out in the hallway.

"I think that we can officially declare Tugglesworth-gate over." Danny sighed in relief.

"Well, what are you going to do if she realizes that that's not her real teddy bear?" a curious Mary inquired as the pair started walking down the hallway. "She's bound to let it all out then."

"And admit that I was able to pull the wool over her eyes?" Danny replied before shaking his head. "Not likely."

The End


End file.
